Suction cup and mounting



y 1953 c. G. SCHULZ EIAL SUCTION CUP AND MOUNTING Filed June 29, 1950 W V "V V IIIIIIIIIII'IIIIIIII/ IIIIIII'IIIIIIIIIII' m M WWW/ m m# .a EC? W MM on c 4 @w M Patented May 5, 1953 CarlG. Schulz, Altadena, and Adam Stuart, Kedzie Los Angeles, Calif.

Application- June29, 1950 Serial N 1713202 5. Claims! i inventi n. rel testd a. suction cup. and mounting therefor. Itis particularly adapted for; use engaging.- andv transferring relatively light articles. such. as paper cups.

tur lec ps ada t d for c nne tio wi h a scut e, o ne a ive pre ure. are fr q e ly used:

asl t cle transfer devices. They are utilizedin lahe i a ma h nes or a fer ng labels, an as in the present case, to successively remove paper c e om a. tac e roc s of filli the cups with; food products.

It is an object of the invention to provide a suction. cup-of annularstructure which will effectiyely engage a paper cupor other article whose,

central; portionis; perforated and therefore can not be handled with. the conventional style of suct on: p.

Another-object: is toprovide effective air pas sage-means for-an annular suction cup.

A further object is to provide-a combined cup and mounting which is particularly adapted to an annular suction cup construction.

The above andother objects and advantages will more fully. appear from. the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig.1. is a fragmentary sectional View through a. cup filling-machine and illustrating amarrangement of suction cup assembly.

Fig. 2, is. an. exploded perspective View of: the cup per se.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the cup assembly showing its relationship to a paper container.

In Fig. 1 there is shown a portion of a machine such as disclosed in application Serial No. 138,547, filed January 14, 1950 by Robert N. Reinhard and entitled Machine for Filling Containers with Frozen Foods. The portion of the machine shown herein relates primarily to the suction cup unit which removes paper cups or receptacles successively from the bottom of a stack and deposits them on a rotary carrier. The carrier is adapted to transfer the cups to a filling machine. The structure includes a rotary carrier 5 mounted upon the upper end of a suitably powered shaft 21. The carrier 6 is provided with pockets H] which are adapted to receive single cups !2 from a stack in a mechanism defined by vertical rods I4. The stack of cups is supported by clips Hi which engage beads 18 on the cups but will release the lowermost cup when it is pulled down wardly.

A plate 20 has a stuffing box 22 mounted thereon and through the stuffing box a tube 24 is slidable. A conduit 26 communicates with the in- 2 terior of the stuffing box and is connected to a suitable pump orother source of" negative pressure.

A. cam: 23= rotates with a vertical shaft 21 and engages a cam roller 30 on one arm of a: bell crank lever 32. The-long arm of the bell' crank 3-2 lies beneath a roller3l on. the tube 24*- which is. vertically slidable in the stuffing box 22.

The tube 24: is: provided; with an: aperture 36-" which. in the lowered position. of said tube lies below a stufiing box coupling 38: and provides a vent to atmosphere. When the cam 28 and bell crank 32 raise the tube 24, the aperture-.38 enters the stuffing. box 22 an'd'subjectsthe interior of said: tube; 24 to negative pressures.

Mounted on; the: upper: end of. the. tube. 24. is a: pair of circular plates or'disks 4U and-.42; Said. disksare providemwith central apertures lii and; :16; respectively. The disk 40i has. dimples: 48: formed; therein, and, as: shown inFig. 3.; these. dimples provide:spacingmeans for thezdisks leaving an: air flow; space: 5.0. between. thetdisks.

Theupper; end-10f; the. tube. 24. is provided with.

athreaded; cap 1 5-2;. A! washer. 5.4-is .interpcsedcbe- L tweenithis cap; and the; disk. GB: Below. thezdisk' 62 a nut 56 is threaded onithetube'ifl and:between the; nut and. they disk. 42'; is a. washer 53. Wh'enthe cap 5,2;and nutjfi; are drawn. together they. will-clamp the disks 40 and 42togetherand the washers; 54; and; 58' provide. a .seal preventing loss of pressure through the central apertures 44 and 46 in the centers of said disks.

The edges of the disks 40 and 42 lie in a channel 60 which extends about the inner wall of a sleeve-like or cylindrical member 62 which is preferably formed of rubber. The channel 60 is provided with a step 64 on each side wall thereof to confine the edges of the disks 49 and 42 and prevent them from extending into the bottom of said channel 60.

Extending axially of the cylindrical member 62 are air passages 65 which pass through the upper edge of member 62 and communicate with a channel or groove 68. This groove is defined by a pair of concentrically spaced tapered inner and outer walls 10 and I2. Said walls is and T2 are preferably made of a soft flexible rubber such as latex and their tapered edges 14 and IE preferably lie in the same plane.

It will be seen that air flow communication is provided from the groove 68 through passages 66 to the channel 60 and thence through the passage 50 between the disks 40 and 42 to ports 18 in the tube 24. It will be noted that the ports [8 lie between the disks 40 and 42.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown a paper cup l2 whose central portion is provided with perforations 80. These perforations permit the central part of the cup to be pressed inwardly to expel the contents of the cup when desired. Such a cup has been designed by us to facilitate emptying of individual portions or servings of frozen food products such as ice cream.

Because of the perforations 80, an ordinary suction transfer cup cannot be used, since the perforations would break the suction. However, with a transfer device in the form of an annular or cylindrical member 62 with its suction groove defined by the walls '10 and I2, suction is applied to the bottom of the cup l2 about an annular surface between the perforations 80 and the outer edge of the cup bottom.

The suction head or cup disclosed herein is made of a few simple pieces including the molded cylindrical head 62, the spaced plates 40 and 42, and the cap 52 and nut 56 which secure the plates or disks to the tube 24.

. While we have disclosed the suction cup as being for use in a machine which handles paper cups with perforated bottoms, it is to be understood that the structure can be used to advantage in any case where the article to be handled or transferred does not have a continuous surface and cannot be handled with conventional types of suction cups. Furthermore, various changes can be made in the form and details Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. A suction cup for handling articles with annular contact surfaces, comprising a cylindrical member having an open central portion, the inner wall of said member having a channel therein, said member having an air passage extending from the channel and through one end of the member, a pair of spaced plates having their edges lying in said channel, said spaced plates defining an air passage communicating with said channel, and one of said plates having a port therethrough communicating with the space between the plates and' adapted for flow communication with an air line.

. 2. A suction cup for handling articles with annular contact surfaces, comprising a cylindrical member of resilient material having an open central portion, the inner wall of said member having a channel thereabout, at least one wall of said channel having an abutment thereon spaced from the bottom of the channel, a pair of spaced plates having their edges lying in said channel and defining an air passage communicating with said channel, the position of one plate in said channel being determined by said abutment, said cylindrical member having an air passage therein from said channel to one end of the member, and one of said plates having a port therethrough to provide flow communication with the space between the plates.

3. The structure in claim 2 and said one end of said cylindrical member having an annular groove therein, and the air passage from the channel to the end of said cylindrical member being in communication with said groove.

4. A suction cup for handling articles with annular contact surfaces, comprising a rubber sleeve having a channel in the inner wall thereof, said channel having stepped side Walls providing abutments facing the open central portion of the sleeve, a pair of circular plates, one of which has a spacer thereon maintaining the plates in spaced relation to define an air passage, the edges of the plates being positioned in said channel, said plates being confined against movement into the bottom of said channel by the stepped side Walls, one of said plates having a portion providing air communication to the passage between the plates, said sleeve having a plurality of passages in its wall from the inner portion of said channel through an end of the sleeve, said end of said sleeve having an annular groove therein, and said plurality of passages terminating in said groove.

5. The structure in claim 4, and the material defining the groove at said end of said sleeve being of a rubber of greater flexibility than that of the major portion of the sleeve.

CARL G. SCHULZ. ADAM STUART KEDZIE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,251,258 Magill Dec. 25, 1917 1,906,620 Knight et a1 May 2, 1933 2,523,157 Somma Sept. 19, 1950 

